The real estate sector represents a mere 2.31% of the S&P 500. Just two sectors – materials and utilities – command smaller allocations in the benchmark domestic equity gauge. That low weight garnered by real estate stocks and REITs belies the popularity of those assets among investors.

With one month in the books for 2024, and markets still waiting for a sign from the Fed, many investors may be looking to shake up their portfolios. What worked in 2023, after all, may not necessarily work in 2024.

This year continues to follow in the footsteps of 2023, marked by increased investor optimism but ongoing uncertainty. For now, much remains unknown, and a higher January inflation print only proves the challenges that still lie ahead.

Patience is required when embracing long-dated bonds and corresponding exchange traded funds. In standard market environments, intraday price action for long duration Treasurys usually isn’t breathtaking. Nor are investors expecting it to be.

Relatively hot inflation reports might be blips, but they reinforce why the Fed's rate-cutting cycle might be more gradual, which could be a better backdrop for stocks.

VettaFi’s Head of Research Todd Rosenbluth discussed the Capital Group Core Plus Income ETF (CGCP) on this week’s “ETF of the Week” podcast with Chuck Jaffe of “Money Life.”

VettaFi’s Lara Crigger goes in-depth on the Simplify Tail Risk Strategy ETF (CYA), which is down nearly 100%. PIMCO’s Greg Hall discusses the potential benefits of active management in fixed income and highlights the firm’s expanding ETF lineup.

Millions of people in the U.S. have a great offense when it comes to earning money that could provide them financial security. Yet it does not, because their defense in protecting and creating that security is gravely underperforming.

If you are among the 56% of US workers with a retirement plan, I have some bad news for you: Your 401(k) will be gone in 10 years, tops. Not the money, thank goodness — Americans have trillions of dollars in these accounts, and there is an entire industry built around them — but the plans themselves.

Investors are beginning to war-game how the Federal Reserve can manage a US economy that just won’t land, with some even debating whether interest-rate hikes will be needed only weeks after a steady run of reductions appeared all but certain.

While the bulls remain entirely in control of the market narrative, divergences and other technical warnings suggest becoming more cautious may be prudent.

Sentiment data is beginning to match relatively strong "hard" economic data.

Even at the risk of sounding like a parrot by repeating the same thing again and again, we think that it is, once again, appropriate at this time to do so: “One data point doesn’t a trend make.”

The deceleration of the core PCE (Personal Consumption Expenditures) inflation rate in the second half of 2023 catalyzed a pivot in monetary policy messaging and shifted market pricing for the path of policy rates in 2024.

More than just demographics, Head of Franklin Templeton Institute Stephen Dover and Investment Strategist Kim Catechis think education and government policy are of critical importance to economic growth.

Secure lifetime income is a top wish-list item for defined contribution plan participants, and it has benefits for plan sponsors too. But there are very different ways to deliver it.

A record month of issuance in January and still relatively high yields could be prime drivers of demand for corporate debt in the current market environment. With that, an all-encompassing approach to corporate debt is available in the Vanguard Total Corporate Bond ETF ETF Shares (VTC).

With added excitement surrounding artificial intelligence, the Magnificent Seven may be one of the easiest ways to play this trend without investing in obscure small-cap stocks.

US new-home construction fell in January, indicating the recovery in the housing market will be gradual as many buyers await a further decline in mortgage rates.

January’s US inflation print came as an unwelcome spoiler for financial markets, dealing what looks like the final blow to hopes of a March interest-rate cut, sending bond yields back up and triggering a major one-day correction in equities.

Stephen Dover, Head of Franklin Templeton Institute, recently hosted a discussion with Michael Buchanan, Co-Chief Investment Officer, Western Asset Management, and Brendan Circle, Portfolio Manager, Franklin Income Investors. The group considered the current market environment as it pertains to cash in client portfolios. Has cash reached a tipping point?

Bond traders are turning their attention to the latest reading on inflationary pressures in the US economy as concern mounts the recent selloff has further to run.

In the face of still elevated inflation, the U.S. consumer remains a force to be reckoned with. Obviously, that’s a plus for the consumer discretionary sector and ETFs such as the Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Consumer Discretionary ETF (RSPD).

Many midstream companies provide guidance for the year ahead, but a select group also offer EBITDA growth guidance or targets for the next few years. Visibility to future EBITDA growth provides important context for dividend growth.

Beginning this year, the SECURE Act 2.0 allows owners of 529 plans to convert unused 529 funds to the beneficiary’s Roth IRA.

Join the experts at Kurv Investment Management and discover a unique covered call strategy that seeks monthly income while maintaining exposure to single stocks which typically offer little to no income opportunities.

A new life insurance strategy, one that is funded by index-universal life, offers investors so many advantages it deserves to be enthusiastically embraced by the RIA community.

A 529 plan offers higher contribution limits as well as more flexibility when it comes transferability and your range of investment choices.

The just-concluded Exchange conference brought together more than 1,800 people on-site in Miami. The advisor and ETF community came together to learn from one another and industry experts.

A slate of US economic data is about to put the loftiest Treasury yields this year to the test.

China's economy has disappointed most expectations over the past year. China's need to rebalance from investment to consumption is coming when tensions with the U.S. are elevated. This could create continued volatility. We believe China does have the levers to alleviate some key challenges.

Critics of the Federal Reserve argue that the acceleration of US inflation in early 2021, and the rapid disinflation of recent months, had nothing to do with monetary policy, because the sources of above-target price growth were all on the supply side. This view is both right and too simple.

Earnings haven’t been consistently rewarded in equity markets recently. That could change faster than you think.

Capital markets pondering when and how fast rate cuts come may invoke anxiety in fixed income investors expecting yields to fall. If they’re willing to extend their exposure to higher duration, they can attain the higher yields they seek.

Franklin Templeton’s Tony Davidow sits down with Jackie Klaber, Head of Alternative Investments at Rockefeller Capital Management, to discuss approaches to allocating to alternatives, and ways to better understand the role alternatives play in a portfolio.

In such a troubled year, investors increasingly turned to alternative strategies to augment or enhance their existing core exposures. With more equity income funds coming online, how do the top ETFs in the category stack up?

I want to hear from you whether it is wrong to believe that numbers matter most and not everyone should try to be a psychologist with their clients.

Just know that involving money in the hunt for love limits your options and might eliminate potential partners who in many other ways could provide you with a meaningful and fulfilling relationship.

Traders ratcheted down their expectations for a Federal Reserve’s interest-rate cut before July, and Treasury yields soared, after a report showed that inflation remains sticky in the US.

Two seasoned investment professionals bring us up to date on the intersection of commercial real estate and bank lending.

One of the major benefits of municipal bonds is that the interest earned is exempt from federal income taxes. The appeal of earning money that you do not have to pay taxes on understandably piques the interest of many investors.

Ratings are an important organizing principle in credit markets, often relied upon as a summary metric of default risk. While they offer a broad categorization, investors in credit markets must rely on much deeper analysis to measure and price the actual default risks involved.

The cost of housing remains a hot-button topic with both Millennials and Gen-Z. Plenty of articles and commentaries address the concern of supply and affordability, with the younger generations getting hit the hardest.

Market folklore provides an easy, but inaccurate guide for investing in today's interconnected and complex market. Indicators based on economic or market behavior may be preferred.

The latest January release of the ClearBridge Recession Risk Dashboard shows another indicator move from red to yellow. Jeff Schulze of ClearBridge Investments shares his insights on what this could mean for the recession outlook in the United States and the overall state of the economy.

A new approach to environmental, social and governance (ESG) research could ease investors’ frustrations with sourcing and evaluating the data required for objective credit analysis. Thanks to a surge in company reporting, ESG metrics can now be quantified and incorporated into analyses that were historically rooted in fundamental research alone.

When ETF investors want real estate exposure, they’re not relegated to just the residential market. That’s imperative in the current market environment. The ALPS Active REIT ETF (REIT) provides this flexibility.

Here’s how your clients’ birthdays trigger marketing moments that matter.

Some Americans like to mock France and Sweden for their high taxes. Yet California — whose economy is bigger than that of both countries — has comparable tax rates, when federal and state tolls are combined, and a new study suggests that they are causing some top earners to leave the state entirely.

There’s one topic dominating the agenda as FX traders descend on Miami this week: how the currency market can adjust to a fast-approaching change to US stock settlements that stands to shake-up their industry.